The Noble Snake
by Misty7books
Summary: Growing up in an orphanage, Harry is surprised when a professor from Hogwarts comes in and tells him of the magical world. He learns of his famous older brother: Charlus Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. What Harry didn't know, which he'll soon learn, is that he's in fact the true Boy-Who-Lived. TR/HP HP/TR, Slytherin!Harry, twins!AU, WrongBWL!AU.
1. Backstory

_**Chapter 1:**_ _ **(1549 words)**_

It was a tragic Hallowe'en night when two beloved members of the Order of the Phoenix, James and Lily Potter, were murdered by the pure evil that is Voldemort. They were killed in cold blood, but when the man – if he could even be called that – tried to kill their eldest son by a few minutes, Charlus Potter, he was 'killed', leaving the Boy-Who-Lived and his much smaller twin brother, who was now dead as far as anyone knows, in the crib as orphans.

At least, that is how the _story_ goes.

What actually happened is a different matter completely. The small family were together for Hallowe'en, since Charlus and Harry were too young to celebrate the holiday. Instead, the four spent the day playing little games that the two one-year-olds could play, and eventually, it was night time. "James, I'm going to put Charlus in his crib, he fell asleep," the beautiful red-head told her husband, a small baby with red hair in her loving arms, his brown eyes from his father hidden behind his droopy eyelids. She then stood up.

The man she spoke to nodded, and stood up to kiss his wife on the lips and Charlus on his forehead, "Alright sweetie, but what about Harry?"

The mentioned baby was still awake, but barely, in his father's arms, his bright green Avada Kedavra eyes looking at his mother and brother. Lily thought for a moment, and replied, "Try and get him to sleep, or else he won't be able to wake up tomorrow."

James nodded and sat back down, waiting for his wife and eldest son to disappear up the stairs.

"Well, Harry. We need to get you to sleep, don't we?" the loving father asked his son. He received a small sound of agreement. Afterwards, instead of saying anything else, the ebony-haired infant snuggled up to his father's chest and fell asleep. The Potter Patriarch's eyes widened, and thought to himself, _'Harry's always been so small, we need to feed him more.'_ His pondering was cut short by his wife walking down the stairs, arms free of a sleeping red-headed baby. "Is he asleep, James?"

"Yeah. Would you like to take him up, or should I?" he asked her.

Lily responded by picking up her little baby, and kissing her husband once more, "I'll take him up, I'll be back in a minute."

He nodded and Lily went upstairs, the same thoughts running through her worried mind. She placed down her youngest son next to his snoring red-headed brother. Harry's eyes opened slightly, and gave her an adorable little noise, which she took to mean _'Goodnight'._

"Sleep well, dear. I'll wake you two up tomorrow." Lily kissed him on the forehead, and walked back down the stairs. She then sat down with her husband to enjoy some well-deserved time together. The two talked freely, mostly about their children's godfathers.

"How's Sirius doing? Remember how much he and Charlus got along? I'm glad that he's Charlus' godfather, sometimes. They're very alike," Lily asked her husband, wanting to know about her friends.

"Oh, he's doing fine. And remember hearing Moony going on and on about how adorable Harry was?" James replied to his laughing wife. Soon it was nearing midnight when the door burst open, revealing their worst nightmares: Voldemort.

"Lily, it's him! Go to the boys!" James ordered, and the fiery red-head raced back up the stairs with motherly determination while the courageous black-haired man duelled with the Dark Lord.

"Now, now, Lord Potter. I'll spare your life as well as your wife's if give me your sons," Voldemort told him, but the Order member continued to fight with his life. Unable to move around it, the Dark Lord had no choice but to Avada Kedavra the protective father. The man was in the way, after all, though Voldemort would have preferred to not kill at all.

He proceeded to go up the staircase, to where he knew the nursery was from Wormtail's information on the house. There he found a mother standing protectively in front of her two children. One of them, the larger one with red hair, was crying, though the little one sat thoughtfully in silence. Putting a stop to his thoughts, Lily Potter begged him to let her children go free. Cutting her off, the Dark Lord told her, "If you step aside, I'll let you live."

Unfortunately, that did nothing to make her move. If anything, her pleading to let her boys live only grew more desperate.

After two more warnings, Voldemort used the killing curse on her. He didn't want to. No! Of course he didn't! To take a life is a big sin, he thought, though he sadly had to do it rather frequently as the Dark Lord of the age.

Lily Potter dropped dead on the cold floor.

All that remained was the cries of the red-head. Honestly, he thought that the boy could pass off as a Weasley if he tried hard enough. No matter now; he had to kill the both of them if he was to secure his position as the greatest Dark Lord of all time, as well as remaining as immortal as possible, his main goal. One of these two infants could possibly grow up to be the death of him, and he would do anything to prevent that despicable fate from happening, even if he had to commit murder.

His eyes moved from the larger red-head whose wails filled the room, to the little boy with ebony-black hair. Now that he realised it, his eyes were the exact shade of green as the Avada Kedavra that he would use to kill the two boys. How ironic. They were rather enchanting, he thought, and as he stood studying the little boy, he decided that it would likely be this one of the twins who would have the power to kill him. He was at least smart enough to not scream in his face, unlike his rather dull twin brother.

Not looking forward to killing such an innocent and interesting character (even though the baby couldn't even speak yet), the Dark Lord raised his wand and pointed it at the little child.

He didn't seem scared, or intimidated at all, at having a long dangerous-looking stick pointing towards his face. "I apologise for this, little one," he whispered at the curious child, and he mumbled the Unforgivable that would take the life of the young infant.

However, instead of dropping dead, the curse rebounded and hit him instead.

The last thing he saw before appearing in the forests of Albania, was the captivating eyes of the fascinating boy, Harry Potter, who unknowingly took his life (sort of), who he would never forget.

 _ **(-Line break!-)**_

The headmaster of Hogwarts was sitting peacefully in his office when one of his many contraptions sounded loudly, informing him that dark magic was being used in the Potter house in Godric's Hollow.

Dumbledore rose and floo-ed to Godric's Hollow, where the house belonging to the Potters was in ruins. He walked inside to discover the dead body of James Potter. _'Shame, he was a rather good fighter, and naïve too.'_ The headmaster continued and went to the nursery, where he discovered the dead body of Lily Potter, _'Good riddance, she was getting very close to finding out my master plan, and she was never really blindly following me, like her husband. Oh well, they're both gone now.'_

He stepped over her unmoving body and looked at the two children in the crib.

Charlus Potter was still crying rather loudly, and the headmaster noticed a little scratch on his hand. It was in the shape of the letter 'V' and the headmaster took that to mean 'Victory', and 'Voldemort'. That meant, to his mind, that Voldemort had marked this child as his equal, like the prophecy mentioned. He was so excited that he had found his key part in his master plan that he didn't even check that the scratch was merely caused indirectly by the explosion of dark magic when Voldemort lost his body.

Harry Potter, however, was a different matter. He didn't even realise that the little boy, the twin of the (false) Boy-Who-Lived, had a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his little forehead. He was exhausted after becoming an accidental horcrux and was asleep in the little crib.

The headmaster finally noticed the sleeping boy, and decided, "He'll just distract the Boy-Who-Lived, and we can't have that. Charlus will live with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Hmm, but people will wonder where Harry is. I'll just tell everyone that Harry died along with his parents, and just place him in some orphanage." The headmaster nodded his approval, and had Hagrid take Charlus to his relatives, who were completely understanding about the situation, ready to spoil their two children.

Dumbledore then took Harry to London, and placed him in an orphanage. Maybe the bullies would beat him up enough so that the little boy will obey his every word if he ever come across him again.

The meddling headmaster grinned at the plan, and then floo-ed back to his office from the fireplace in Godric's Hollow, and sat back as he waited for his master plan to run perfectly.

 **A/N: I am quite new to Harry Potter, meaning that I have read the books multiple times, though the first time was two years ago. I would have written a fanfic about this before, but I was always afraid that I would do a horrible job and mess it up, which I didn't want to risk since I love it so much. Then I had so many ideas and I just had to write it down, whoops.**

 **Oh, and before people start asking me, I love the books and have read them before seeing the movies, which I don't like at all. They just cut parts out which annoyed me. I wouldn't mind watching a four or five-hour movie as long as it was accurate. I can't even watch the movies without ranting, and it annoys me when people watch the movies before reading the books.**

 **Anyways, there's not much else to say except this is a Twins AU, Wrong Boy-Who-Lived AU, and a Slytherin!Harry AU. Also, I'm planning for Harry Potter/Tom Riddle in the far future. Harry and Draco are usually my favourite ship, but I'm in a Tomarry phase right now that I'm sure isn't going to disappear anytime soon.**

 **On that note, enjoy!**


	2. Pre-Hogwarts Part 1

_**Chapter 2:**_ _ **(2012 words)**_

"Get up, you freak! You need to make us breakfast! Get down here before we break every last puny bone in your body!"

Harry shivered slightly in fear of being in that much pain, but to be honest, he was used to this by now. By that point, he was ten years old, though he was about the size of an eight-year-old, maybe even younger. He was going to turn eleven in a couple more weeks. He didn't really care about it though, since no one ever celebrates with him or ever gets him anything for it. Anyways, it's not like it's going to change anything for him. He'll still be here, getting hit and starved and locked away.

The little boy raced out of the extremely small cupboard under the stairs on the bottom floor and into the kitchen. He prepared some pancakes with two other little boys, who were trying as hard as possible to avoid Harry.

Actually, everyone tried to avoid Harry, except for the bullies who would beat him to a pulp. He didn't know _why_ everyone always avoided him, but he assumed it had something to do with the strange things that always happened to him. For example, when one of the bullies was extremely close to finding him when he saved a kitten from being killed by them, he kind of… teleported, really. There's no other word for it.

He was looking at all of the staff in the orphanage stuffing themselves with food, while the other kids were playing in their rooms. Him, though? He was always slaving away for the greedy matrons of the place. Hardly any of the others ever had it as bad as him.

Once the matrons had finished eating, one of them grabbed him by the hair and shoved him out the door, making him land on his hands and knees on the many rocks outside, _'Ooooh, that's going to be painful later.'_ One of the other matrons called out after him, "Fix up the garden, freak! It needs weeding!"

Harry quickly stood up and got to weeding. He did it as slow as he could so he could enjoy being away from all of the others. After being beaten up for so long without friends, he had gained some trust issues. He usually had no clue who to be friends with and who to look out for. Pretty much everyone was the latter option, to be honest.

Suddenly, he heard a hiss that pulled him away from his thoughts. He looked around and eventually found a thin little snake sitting on a rock that was slightly to his right.

" **Why are you pulling up all of thessse weedsss? I need prey to practissse hunting, and they like to hide there,"** it hissed at him, and Harry almost fell over when he found out that he could understand it. Was this normal? He didn't think so.

" **Uhhh, sssorry. I didn't mean to chassse away your prey,"** he apologised, the little snake hissed in surprise.

It exclaimed, **"A ssspeaker! A ssspeaker! I've never met a ssspeaker before, Mama sssaid that I could bond with one!"**

Harry slowly began grinning at the possibilities of making a friend, a _true_ friend too! Usually, he would be suspicious that the possible friend was just pretending that he was safe and then they would beat him up, but this was a _snake_! He had never spoken to a snake before, so he had no experience as to whether it was being honest or not.

As if sensing how he was being hesitant, it hissed, **"It isss impossssssible to lie in Parssseltongue. Ssseriousssly, try it!"**

Harry raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and tried it anyway, **"Thisss place is gre-"**

He tried to get out the rest of the word, but found it impossible. It just kept getting stuck in his throat. The little snake seemed to laugh victoriously, though it sounded like little spurts of hisses instead, **"Sssee!"**

Harry nodded, **"Yeah, I can sssee that now. Well, what should I call you?"**

" **Whatever you would like, ssspeaker,"** it responded, and it slithered of the rock and onto his arm. He could see that it was very small, it went from his wrist to his elbow, and it was even thinner than his scrawny malnourished arms, if possible. The colours, though, were gorgeous. It was a dark emerald green for the majority, though it had a diamond shape on the upper-side of the snake's body every few centimetres, which was a deep red. There were spots of dark blue surrounding these little diamonds, and the snake's eyes were bright yellow.

" **Well, are you fully grown?"** he asked the little snake.

" **No, ssspeaker, I am ssstill very young and sssmall. I will grow,"** the little thing assured him.

" **What sssex are you?"** he asked the snake after a moment of thought.

" **I am a female, ssspeaker,"** she responded, and laughed again, **"So what would you like to call me?"**

" **Hmm, I think Ethelinda is a sssuitable name, don't you think?"**

She nodded her head quickly, her bright yellow eyes were shining with happiness, **"Yesss! It isss a beautiful name, ssspeaker! What doesss it mean?"**

Harry smiled at the excited little snake, and responded, **"Well, first of all, call me Harry. You're not my pet, you're my friend,"** Ethelinda nodded her head and hissed in the affirmative, **"It's an old English name, and it means 'noble snake.' I read a lot, so that's why I even know that in the first place."**

Ethelinda nodded again, proud of her name and of herself for making a friend, and helped Harry with the weeding when he promised that he'd help her hunt for food later on somewhere else. He let the snake coil around his body, where his stomach was, so that he could sneak her inside the orphanage.

Eventually, he managed to sneak her in, and one of the matrons shoved him into his cupboard under the stairs. He was afraid that Ethelinda would leave him once she saw the conditions he was living in but she simply declared that, with his permission, she would rip those humans to shreds.

Harry laughed, quietly to not attract attention, and he spent the rest of the day conversing with the interesting little snake that became his first ever friend. Of course, he left her safely hidden in his cupboard whenever he was let out to make lunch and dinner, and to clean some of the other kid's rooms. Whenever he returned, a couple of new bruises to add to his large collection, Ethelinda told him that, whenever she became his familiar, she would be able to heal him. He also brought some mice that he found in the kitchen, which he caught when the matrons weren't looking.

The two spent the following week enjoying each other's presence. Ethelinda became his familiar by biting his neck and injecting an extremely small amount of venom so he would become immune to it, incase an accident took place. They then spent the week mixing their magic so that they became bonded, though, of course, Harry didn't know this.

It was probably the happiest week that he had ever experienced in his life, which, actually, was pretty sad. Maybe he was happy before he came to the orphanage, when he once had a family.

There was no point in dwelling on the past, though, especially when there's a matron shouting at him to get the mail outside.

Ethelinda had pretty much doubled her length during the week she spent with Harry, and she could know reach his shoulder from his wrist. She was also the width of his scrawny little arms now, too.

After securing her around his stomach, Harry raced outside to the post-box. He opened it, and he checked everything in it. After everything he goes through, he at least likes to know what everyone gets before they do. It's the least they can do for him after everything, anyway.

" **Uhh, Lind?"** Harry whispered to the snake around his middle, using the nickname he made for her.

" **Yesss, Harry? What isss it? Isss sssomething wrong?"** it whispered back to the panicking human in a calming manner to try and comfort him.

" **There'sss a letter here, and it'sss for me!"** he whisper-shouted at his friend. She then told him that it would be best if he hid it and opened it back in his little closet under the stairs. Agreeing with the smart little snake, he raced inside and handed all of the mail, not including his letter, to one of the matrons.

When she excused him, he sprinted to his cupboard and took out the letter, which Ethelinda was holding onto for him.

" **Go on then, Harry. Open it!"** she encouraged him.

He nodded at his enthusiastic friend and looked at the seal on the letter, _'Hogwarts? What kind of name is that! And magic? Really?! Like I'm going to believe all of that rubbish!'_ As if knowing exactly what he was thinking, Ethelinda hissed, **"What about your ability to ssspeak to sssnakesss! Not everyone can do that, you know! Only sssomeone with magic can do it, and even then, it isss very rare!"**

Harry, considered her points. It made sense, in a strange sort of way. It at least explained how he could understand her and no one else in the orphanage could, not that they had seen her. If they had, there would be a very large likelihood that she would not be here today. **"Yeah, okay. That makesss sssenssse, in a way."**

Ethelinda nodded, and he ripped open the letter.

 _Dear Mr. Harry Potter,_

 _It has come to my attention that you are unaware of_

 _the world of magic that you are from. I shall send one_

 _of the teachers from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and_

 _Wizardry. Expect the said teacher at 9:00AM on July 30_ _th_ _,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall,_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

" **Uhhhhh…"** Harry didn't know what to say. It's not every day you get sent a letter telling you that you can do magic and that you can go to a school filled with other people who can do magic.

He opened the other letters that came along with this one, about how he was accepted into said school, the rules of said school, and the equipment necessary for said school. He had no idea what to think of all of this, what if it was a prank? _'How could it be? Everyone here beats me twice as hard if I mention magic. I really doubt that they'll play a prank about it.'_

Then again, the people in the orphanage are truly vicious, he was sure that they could be behind this. However, he then remembered his ability to speak to snakes.

" **Should I tell sssomeone that a random person who can do magic isss coming on Wednesssday?"** he asked his familiar, not wanting to get beaten any more than he already has.

" **I think that you shouldn't. If they can do magic, they can protect themssselvesss from getting beaten. Don't worry about it,"** she comforted him, and she wrapped around his stomach, giving him a hug as much as a snake can.

" **Where am I going to find all of thisss ssstuff, Lind?"** he stressed about all of these letters and he needed to have his snake calm him down for a couple of minutes before he was calm enough to think clearly. **"Sssorry, Lind, I'm just really confusssed."**

She nodded at him, and replied, **"Don't worry, Harry. Thisss isss all real, I can feel your magic! And to anssswer your quessstion, I think that the professssssor from thisss ssschool will help you with all of that."**

Nodding, Harry took some deep breaths to calm down. He knew that there was no point in worrying, and he adopted an emotionless mask to disguise his surprise and fear.

He had no choice but to wait patiently with Ethelinda, and he did so with hope that this was his way out.

 **A/N: Yes, yes, yes, I know. I invented a new snake species. I spent such a long time looking for a cool, venomous snake that's really colourful, and I couldn't find one, so I just made one up. Could someone think of a cool name for the species of snake Ethelinda is? I tried and couldn't think of anything. If any of you noticed, she's the colours of the houses of Hogwarts. I thought it was a cool little addition, to signify how Harry is probably going to unite the houses. I'm pretty much just winging this story, so nothing is set in stone.**

 **Anyways, I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter, even though nothing interesting happened or anything, I just like snakes.**

 **Also, other than Harry/Tom, what other pairings should I have? I'm just winging this story, like I said before, instead of making a plan, so you can all help me with the ideas.**

 **Enjoy!**


	3. Pre-Hogwarts Part 2

_**Chapter 3:**_ _ **(2022 words)**_

He and Ethelinda spent the following week wondering what would happen on the Wednesday. No one had found out about Lind yet but, since he was so stressed lately about the magic, he also grew a lot more worried about his first and only friend. She had to spend hours at a time just hugging and assuring him that he was going to be fine and that no one would discover and hurt her.

Eventually, the Tuesday came and Harry stood behind the table, stiff as a board, worried that he would somehow be blamed for the stranger's appearance. He wasn't looking forward to being beaten and starved, in any case. He had just made breakfast – bacon, eggs, and baked beans – when there was a knock on the double doors. He silently went to hide behind one of the chairs at the table, just to be safe. He could feel Ethelinda squeezing him tighter than normal, and he was actually quite happy that he had a friend who cared for him, unlike everyone else.

He could hear the matrons speaking to each other, "Oh, I wonder who that is."

"Maybe it's that charming lad from across the street? You know, the one who flirted with you!" one of them pondered.

"It's possible, Margaret, but just go open the door," the oldest one, and the kindest one too, suggested to the one who spoke second. She nodded and opened the door to reveal a man in long dark purple robes. He was wearing a purple turban too, and his unusual appearance captured the attention of the three matrons, letting him speak, "P-p-pardon m-me, l-l-l-ladies. I'm h-here to see a M-Mr. Harry P-P-Potter."

The matron who spoke first huffed and replied, "I have no clue who you're talking abo-"

"Bridgette, dear. Don't be rude. I'll take you to him," the eldest kindly interrupted, and led him into the kitchen, where Harry was hiding. The matron smiled when she saw his torn trainers behind one of the chairs, and told the professor, "I'll give you two some privacy."

The professor nodded his thanks, and the three matrons left the room, leaving only the robed man and the skinny child.

"Mr. Potter, I know you're there," he told the room, and there was soon a little child who seemed no older than seven or eight standing before him. He would have thought it was some other child if it wasn't for the bright green Avada Kedavra eyes shining curiously at him. He – Voldemort, that is – wanted to see the youngest Potter himself, so he took control of Quirrell's body. The boy remained silent as the man stood there, worried about how malnourished and skinny Harry seemed. It reminded him of when he lived in the orphanage, bringing up bad memories. When he realised that the boy was determined to stay silent, he began the conversation, "Have you received the letter informing you of my arrival? The matrons seemed surprised."

The boy's eyes widened and nodded his head. After a few seconds of silence, he then whispered, "I just didn't tell them."

"And why is that, Mr. Potter?" he asked the child, wanting to know the true reason.

Instead of responding to the question, he evaded it by asking him, "Why have you stopped stuttering, sir?"

It was his turn for his eyes to widen, though he quickly fixed his expression to one of indifference, "I must say I'm impressed, Mr. Potter. I'm Professor Quirrell, and you are the only one who has noticed such a thing. I hardly ever stop though, only right now. As for the reason, you will find out soon enough, I'm sure. You have not answered my question though."

He looked down at the floor and in a spurt of hope and bravery, he told him, "They would stop me from eating, or they would let the other kids hit me." Harry felt Ethelinda squeezing him even more in a motherly way, and he secretly thanked her for being so supportive.

"Harry, I'm sorry you have to go through that. It _is_ difficult to get over it, but you just have to believe that you will get out of it eventually," he told the quivering child. How could he have let this happen! This is exactly what he was trying to fix when he was back in power, and here is Harry Potter, being abused by those tasked to look after him. He sighed dejectedly, which the young child seemed to have noticed.

"How do you know all of this?" he asked curiously, a worried expression on his face.

"Well, Mr. Potter, when I was your age, I went through the same thing. My parents were dead and I lived in an orphanage. I wasn't beat up or anything, but they were through… bad times, so there was never enough food," he told the listening child. He had never told anyone anything of the treatment he went through during his childhood, other than Dumbledork. He didn't know _why_ he was telling the child. Potter meant nothing to him. Though, he couldn't deny that he was feeling rather protective over him. This was the real Boy-Who-Lived, and only he knew that. He could see many bruises on his arms and legs, through the thin rags that were his clothing. He had to get the child out of this orphanage.

"I'm sorry, sir. But you're free now, right?" the boy asked him, Avada Kedavra eyes looking deep into his blood-red ones.

He smiled at the hopeful child, and nodded, "Yes, in a way, but not fully. I still have a long way to go, but I'm sure that I'll get there," he assured the child.

The two then proceeded to speak about all of the required equipment and where to find it all, "You'll find everything if you go to a small pub and inn on Charing Cross Road, called the Leaky Cauldron. To muggles – that means non-magical people – it'll look like a run down and abandoned old shop. Ask the bartender there, Tom, to show you how to get there. He's a wizard too so don't worry."

Harry nodded almost seemed to jump up and down in place from being so excited, "Are there book stores?!"

Quirrell laughed at the enthusiastic boy and nodded, glad to see the glee in his Avada Kedavra eyes grow rapidly. Harry stored the new information for later, though he hoped that if he forgot anything, Ethelinda would tell him. Remembering about all of that 'speaking to snakes' thing, he decided to ask the professor, though without showing that he himself had the skill. Ethelinda said it was rare and that most people thought that it was the sign of an evil wizard, though she assured him that they were wrong, "Can people with magic speak to animals, professor?"

Quirrell looked thoughtful for a moment before responding cautiously, "Yes, though only with snakes, and it is still an extremely rare skill. Many believe that only evil and Dark wizards can have this skill, but that's just stupid rumours. It is not true at all. Like how everyone thinks that Dark wizards are evil. It's just a type of magic, and Light wizards can still kill." It would be bad to reveal that he could do it, though there would be no need to worry, since Tom hardly ever takes over from Quirrell, and, last time he checked, the timid professor was not a Parseltongue.

Harry nodded and thanked the professor, thoughtful about the last part of the professor's response, but he decided to stay silent for now, "Will I go to get everything by myself or will I be accompanied by an adult?"

"It is up to you, Mr. Potter. You have the choice, though I would prefer that you would tell me if you would like a magical accompaniment."

"Of course, though I would prefer to go by myself, if that is acceptable," he responded.

"That is fine, Mr. Potter. Well, that is all, really. Make sure that you get to Platform 9 ¾ on time, it would be bad to miss the train. The times are mentioned in the letters you received a week ago. If there is anything else, feel free to visit my office once the school term commences. This is not something I allow to many students, but you are a rather interesting character."

Harry nodded rapidly and thanked him, flushed at the kind compliment.

Tom moved to leave, but before he did so, he took something out of his pocket, and made it larger with a long stick of wood. "Is that a wand?!" Harry was practically jumping up and down on the spot!

The professor laughed at his enthusiasm, and replied, "Yes, it is. Now, this is a book on Defence against the Dark Arts, which is what I teach at Hogwarts. It's an early birthday present for you, since I'm sure you hardly have any here. I wasn't certain if it would be something you're interested in, but from your excitement to bookstores, I assume I made a good decision?"

Nodding, Harry grinned at the man who gave him hope for the future. The professor gave him the book, and Harry hugged it with all his might, though careful to not hurt Ethelinda, "Thank you, professor, sir!"

In a rather stupid Gryffindor moment, the professor responded, "Please, call me Tom. I hardly let anyone call me that," he rushed afterwards, but continued more slowly, "but you can. Only call me this when we're alone, if you may."

Harry nodded, honouring the man's decision, and stuck out his hand, all thin and scrawny from being neglected, "Please, call me Harry!"

"Of course, kitten," he responded, a smirk on his face. Harry rolled his eyes; of course he would call him something completely different from what he was asked to. He found he rather liked the professor when he was like this.

"Thank you for the gift, profes- uh, _Tom_ ," Harry thanked, and the two parted, with Harry returning to his chores, while Tom stopped his control on Quirrell, finding no point to do so when he wasn't talking to Harry. He knew it was risky to let the child call him by his real name, but he had a strange desire to let the child know the real him, even though he was in the wrong body to do so.

Quirrell stuttered to the three matrons about how Harry was accepted into a boarding school, and that he was going to be absent from the orphanage for the majority of the year. He was still rather protective of the boy, for reasons unknown to him, though he tried to squish down the feelings when the two rude matrons celebrated with thinly veiled joy.

Not wanting to remain in their presence, he thanked them and returned back to Hogwarts to think on his conversation with the youngest Potter. He had met the boy's twin brother already, and the two were complete opposites. The Dursleys spoiled Charlus and the title of the Boy-Who-Lived went to his head. Oh, he couldn't wait to let it slip that all of it was a mistake, though that would not happen for a very long time. The title made Charlus an attention-seeker and the excessive food in the house made him quite large, though nowhere near as large as his cousin and uncle. He was also best friends with the youngest male Weasley (he still remembered how the silly boy was over at the ruin the Weasleys call a house for most of the summer, making Charlus an honorary Weasley), and he spent a lot of time playing Quidditch with the brothers of his best friend.

Harry, though, was different. In a way, the child was almost exactly like himself. He went through horrible conditions in an orphanage like him, though the abuse was worse, if possible. They both had a thirst to learn as much as possible, and at that moment, Tom Riddle was determined to learn more about the mysterious enigma that was the Boy-Who-Lived.

 **A/N: Not much happened here, but I wanted to include the conversation between Tom and Harry in the chapter. Of course, there isn't going to be any romance for a very, very, very, VERY long time. I mean, c'mon! Harry's eleven! That's way too young for anything like that, and I'm determined to get through all of the years, and maybe even beyond. I'm certain it'll happen while Harry's still at Hogwarts, but still, not for a good few years.**

 **Also, I love protective Tom so much! It's just so adorable, wanting to protect Harry when he doesn't know why. Of course, there's not going to be any romantic feelings until Harry's older, like I said before.**

 **Well, that's all, really.**

 **Enjoy!**


	4. Pre-Hogwarts Part 3

_**Chapter 4:**_ _ **(2523 words)**_

" **C'mon, Lind! Let'sss go get all of thisss ssschool equipment!"** Harry exclaimed at the snake, who he was sure was rolling her eyes behind his back. He turned around and gave her his puppy-dog eyes, **"Pleassse…"**

Ethelinda lasted about five seconds before sighing, which sounded like one long hiss, **"Fine, fine, fine. Let'sss go now, but you'll have to asssk the matronsss."**

Harry nodded, worried that he would just get beat up some more, but inside, he knew that the matrons were glad that they had a way to get rid of him for the better part of a year, and for seven years too, as far as he knew. He secured Ethelinda around his waist; she had been asking him to take her when he would go to the place that had other people who could do magic.

It was about six in the morning, since he couldn't sleep from excitement and fear. It was the day after Professor Quirrell came to explain everything to him. He was too afraid of being around a lot of magic wielders, when he had only discovered the magic world, so he decided to go super early. **"You ready?"** he asked his only friend, wanting her to be comfortable before he went out in the search of the hidden Diagon Alley.

Feeling her squeezing around him slightly tighter, he knocked on the door of his cupboard under the stairs. The elderly matron opened the door, since the other matrons usually didn't want to be near his freakishness. "Yes, dear?"

"I was accepted into a school and need to go and buy things for it, so can I have the day off to go?" he asked her, worried that she wouldn't let him leave, but she just nodded and let him step out. The two walked until the entrance, though before he walked out of the door, she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Dear, I know that you're a wizard," she whispered under her breath, but Harry caught ever single word.

"Y-you mean, you know!" B-but, _how_?" he pleaded, eyes flaming with confusion and fear and curiosity. The elderly woman hushed him and asked him to let her explain.

"Dear, I'm getting very old now. It'll be soon that I'm not around anymore, so I figured it's time to tell someone," she began, rather mysteriously.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm a squib, Harry." Seeing his confused expression, she further explained, "It means that my parents were magical, but I myself have no magic. It's rather upsetting, and most, if not all squibs leave their families to go and live in the muggle world."

"You mean you left your family? Why? I mean, I understand how horrible it must have been to be surrounded by magic and people who could wield it, but it's your _family_! If I had one, I wouldn't have given it up for anything," he questioned the kind woman.

"You said it yourself, Harry. It's horrible not being able to have magic when everyone else could, so I left. But most squibs are forced out of the family and are disowned. It's a great shame and dishonour if your child is a squib, so really, I didn't have a choice."

He gaped, and stuttered out his apologies for being so straight-forward and nosey. She just waved a wrinkled hand at him and pulled out a little black box from one of her pockets. She handed it to him and explained that it was a family heirloom, which was meant for her since she was the eldest, but since she was disowned, it went to her younger brother. Her entire family had either been arrested or had died though, so the Ministry of Magic had given it to her, though she left almost everything in the manors that her family had. "Take it dear, it's my gift to you, for your birthday. I wasn't lying when I said that I'm going to pass away soon, and I want at least someone to know the truth."

Harry could tell that there was no point in refusing the old witch, so he nodded his thanks and smiled at her, knowing that she would probably not be there come the following year. "Bye, Aquila. Thank you, for everything," he told her with tears in his eyes. He knew that he would come back later and the two would deny that anything happened, but he knew that she was the reason he wasn't dead yet.

"See you later, Harry, dear."

He nodded, and left without another word.

Placing the little box in one of his pockets, he weaved his way through many streets until he found himself standing in front of a pub and inn with a sign with writing that clearly said _'The Leaky Cauldron.'_ He noticed how everyone else around him didn't even realise it was there, and realised that Tom hadn't been lying. He walked inside, and saw a clock that said it was about half eight in the morning. Had he really spent that much time searching for the place? It didn't matter though, he was here.

"Excuse me?" he asked the man behind the counter, remembering that the man was called Tom. _'That's funny! Tom has the same name as this man!'_ The man stopped washing the dishes and came over to where Harry was.

"My God, you look just like James Potter!" the man exclaimed, calling the attention of the other people in the pub.

Suddenly, there was another man behind him, who was stuttering, "H-h-hello, Harry."

Harry spun around quickly at that, "Uh, professor!" He made sure not to use the name Tom had allowed him to use. Now that he thought about it, his name didn't really match his appearance, though it did match his personality when he wasn't stuttering. Harry found it all very mysterious, but let it go for now, there were more important matters to deal with.

"Wait, Harry? As in Harry Potter?" the man behind the counter, Tom, asked. Harry nodded slowly, knowing that it would attract a lot of attention to himself, which he wanted to avoid. Luckily, the professor could sense this and guided him to the back where a brick wall stood, though not before saying goodbye to the other Tom.

"Now that all of that's over, hello kitten," he greeted again with a grin, though this time without the stutter, and Harry raised an eyebrow at him, noticing something else.

"Your eyes change colour when you do that," he stated, a smirk appearing on his face when Tom's eyes widened in surprise and respect.

"You really are a lot more observant than I gave you credit for," he mentioned, while bringing out his wand and tapping one of the bricks. Harry made sure to remember which one; after all, he _was_ observant. He flushed at the praise, unsure of how to react to it, but Tom seemed to understand because he stayed silent as the brick wall opened up to reveal Diagon Alley, and Tom lead him inside. "Go on, kitten. I'll be back to stuttering, and no, I'm not telling you why my eyes change colour."

Harry huffed playfully, and Quirrell, who he decided was not Tom when he was stuttering and had black eyes, told him that he had to go back to Hogwarts to prepare for the coming school year. Before he left, though, _Tom_ wished him a happy birthday, and Harry decided that, yes, he was rather happy when conversing with Tom.

Before all else, he went to Gringotts, which was the bank, according to what Tom said yesterday.

He had been reading the book on DADA the entirety of yesterday, since he thirsted after knowledge, and hoped that the world of magic was his way out, away from the abuse of the orphanage. Because of this, he knew rather a lot on many different creatures, though he wasn't very well informed about goblins, but he knew they liked respect and business; so he was going to give it.

Harry walked into Gringotts, and once he was inside, he saw a goblin step towards him. Trying to be respectful, he bowed at the goblin and requested that he would like to take money out if his vault, if he had one.

Well, that attracted the attention of all of the goblins in the massive hall.

At the silence, Harry raised his head from the bowed position, and asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

The goblin in front of him seemed to snap out of his daze of astonishment and responded, "No, not at all, mister. We just hardly ever get a human who ever shows us respect." Harry nodded at the information and, not wanting to have any enemies in the wonderful world that he had only recently discovered, continued on with his efficient method of showing respect and pressing on to business.

The goblin introduced himself as Griphook, and had Harry take an inheritance test since he didn't have his key for his vault.

The results were rather surprising.

"It says here that you are Heir Potter, Heir Peverell, Heir Gryffindor, and, by conquest, Heir Slytherin," the goblin hid his absolute astonishment very well behind a mask, but Harry had spent his rather small lifespan looking out for emotions from everyone, mostly rage and anger, so he could pick out the surprise clearly.

"Is this surprising?" he asked curiously, hungry for knowledge. He felt Ethelinda squeezing tighter than normal when the goblin spoke, so it must have been really surprising.

"Well, it would be understandable if your brother was Heir Slytherin, but not you," the goblin mumbled, but Harry turned pale in a matter of seconds.

"I have a brother," he muttered through astonished teeth. He had a brother? Did that mean he had a family?! Maybe he could go live with them instead of staying at the orphanage!

"Do you not know the story, Mr. Potter?" At Harry's shake of the head, the goblin continued, "You-Know-Who was the Dark Lord, and went to kill your family. He managed to kill your mother and father, but when he tried to kill your twin brother, it backfired and he died. Your brother is very famous, and is known as the Boy-Who-Lived. Everyone thought that you were dead."

Harry couldn't believe it.

He barely had the energy, or the control of his body, but he managed to get out, "Who does he live with?"

"With his aunt, uncle, and cousin."

Harry hid behind his facial mask, not wanting to portray his betrayed feeling. He had relatives that cared perfectly fine for his brother, so why not him? Did they not love him? "Why did everyone think that I was dead?"

"That is what Dumbledore told everyone. He's the headmaster of Hogwarts, and a figurehead of the Light side of the war. Goblins do not care at all for human conflicts, but there is no harm in being informed," the goblin told him cheekily, and Harry considered his words. What if it was this Dumbledore who placed him in the orphanage? Even if he didn't, Harry decided that he didn't really like the headmaster of his school all that much.

Nodding, Harry asked, "What's the Dark Lord's name?"

The goblin seemed hesitant to tell him. Why? Harry had no clue, but Griphook eventually resolved to write down the name on a piece of parchment. With a quill. Honestly, the magical world was so very different from the muggle one. Harry glanced at the scrap of parchment the goblin had passed to him, and saw the word:

 _Voldemort_

So, this was the man who killed his family. For some reason, Harry didn't really feel negatively about him. Sure, he didn't have a family because of him, but his family was in the way, and the Dark Lord – Voldemort – just did what any Dark Lord would do. The ebony-haired boy understood how that was messed up logic, but to him, it made sense in a way.

Harry asked to have some money from his vault for when he was still an heir. He'd get the rest of the money when he became a lord.

As he and the goblin went to get the money, Griphook explained all about the four different houses of Hogwarts, and about his brother. He also spoke about how he was the heir of those families, and expressed his confusion about how he was Heir Slytherin. Also, since his brother was older than him, even if it was by a few minutes, Charlus (his brother's name, according to Griphook) should have been the heir for the Potter, Peverell, and Gryffindor families. It confused Harry to no end, but decided to not think about it too hard. He should just be happy that he was the heir to them all and not his brother, who sounded pretty stuck-up according to the stories Griphook told him.

Eventually, he was given the money he requested, while Griphook explained the exchange rate. As they walked back to the main hall where they first met, the goblin told Harry, "It is possible that _you_ are the true Boy-Who-Lived, since _you're_ the Slytherin Heir by conquest."

Harry stopped walking on the spot, "Wait. Really? Why're you the only one who's ever thought so?"

"I assume it's to do with how every magical being believes that you are dead," the goblin pointed out.

Harry nodded, feeling stupid that he had forgotten such an important detail. Once he and the goblin arrived at the hall, Harry asked how to say goodbye properly to a goblin. Griphook, as well as the other goblins, were rather surprised at how polite and respectful Harry was being, but the goblin showed him how to do it anyway.

"May your gold ever grow," Harry began.

"And may all your enemies be conquered," Griphook finished, after he taught Harry how to say goodbye to a goblin properly.

Harry walked out of Gringotts with a money sack full of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts. He also walked out with a brain full of a lot more information.

He wasn't sure what to think of the four houses. Sure, it creates healthy competitiveness, but it can divide the school, and Griphook told him that everyone views the Slytherins as pure evil, the Hufflepuffs as weak babies, the Ravenclaws as annoying nerds, and the Gryffindors as irrational idiots. It was a rather flawed system, but if he had to choose, he'd rather be a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw. Merlin knows how much he loves to read, but he also reads because he has a thirst to prove himself, and he _is_ rather ambitious.

He looked at the list of things he needed to buy, which Ethelinda was holding for him, and decided to just get his robes first. He'd get everything else afterwards. Checking the time, Harry saw that it was now nine in the morning, and he made his way to Madam Malkin's, which was a shop for robes, which wizards and witches wear.

Standing in front of the robe shop, Harry opened the door.

 **A/N: Aaaaah, cliffhangers are great, I know.**

 **Anyways, I don't know if any of you know, but Aquila is a constellation, so if you like constellations, it's pretty obvious which family she's related to, though I just told you now, kinda. I'll get Harry to open the box in the next chapter, and if I forget, the chapter after that.**

 **Oh, I hope you all don't mind that Harry's friends with Griphook and the goblins, but I like stories where Harry's friends with magical creatures, since they're awesome and underrated.**

 **Also, the mystery of him being the heir will not show up for quite a while, but I'm happy to read all of your ideas on it, although I already have a pretty cool idea for it, though I appreciate all of the reviews I receive, and I'd like to thank everyone who's given me a review. Thanks! :D**

 **Harry will meet Draco next chapter, so I can't wait!**

 **Enjoy!**


	5. Pre-Hogwarts Part 4

_**Chapter 5:**_ _ **(2310 words)**_

The bell rang as Harry walked as quietly as possible to the woman there. She was measuring some other boy with platinum blond hair who had a kind of superior air around him. He looked very rich, too. Especially compared to Harry's ragged clothes.

Before he walked into the store, he let Ethelinda slither away, since he wouldn't be able to get measured properly if there was a snake around his waist. He was lucky he decided to wear a long-sleeved shirt that day, or else he'd be asked about all of his bruises and scars.

The woman, who he believed to be Madam Malkin, asked, "Hogwarts, dear?"

Harry nodded, and she told him that there was another boy being fitted too, which turned out to be the boy with platinum blond hair. He was very pale, and had a pointed face with high cheekbones. He was standing on a footstool, and Madam Malkin asked Harry to stand on another footstool, which was next to the boy. She then slipped a long, black robe onto him and began to pin it to the right place.

The boy looked at him, and began to speak. "Hello," he began, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," he replied.

"My father's next door buying my books and my mother's up the street looking at wands," he continued. His voice sounded very bored. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." The way he spoke reminded Harry very much of some of the bullies at the orphanage, but he knew that the boy was raised that way by his parents, so he didn't think much about it. "Have you got your own broom?"

"No, but I think it sounds fun," Harry replied, though he didn't really know what Quidditch was. He just knew it had something to do with brooms, which sounded amazing all on its own already.

"Play Quidditch at all?" the boy asked, still looking bored.

"No, but I'd like to," Harry responded, thinking of getting a book on the subject so that he wasn't unprepared. He had a month until the school year started so he had time to learn as much as possible and hopefully not fall behind. He wasn't about to let Dumbledore stop him from becoming a great wizard.

"I do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No, but then again, no one does until they get there, really. I hope I get into Slytherin, though. And if not that, then Ravenclaw," Harry answered, glad that could without sounding dumb, like before.

"True, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"No. I admit, I believe cunning and ambition to be the better trait, but it's wrong to underestimate others. It's not very Slytherin, is it?" he cheekily added, grinning at the other boy.

Harry expected the boy to get angry, but he paused to consider his words, and just rolled his eyes at Harry. He looked outside, and the blond exclaimed, "I say, look at that man!" and he nodded towards the window at the front.

Looking over to where the boy was looking, he saw a rather large man. Did giants exist in the magical world? "I wonder who he is," he replied, curious as to who it was.

The boy thought for a moment, and told him, "I think he works at Hogwarts. He's the gamekeeper, I think that's what Father said."

Harry nodded at his words, unsure of what else to say.

"I heard he's some sort of savage – lives in a hut on school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"That wasn't very nice. I think it's wrong to judge others before meeting them and getting your own opinion," Harry ranted before he could stop himself. He didn't want the boy to not like him, he was the first magical person he had met that was his age.

Luckily, the boy raised an eyebrow but chose to let it go with a rather elegant shrug of the shoulders, "Where are your parents?"

"There dead," Harry told him, already over the fact that he'll never get to meet them. To be honest, he was glad that he wasn't in the orphanage because they didn't want him. It's Dumbledore who he blamed.

"Oh, sorry," he apologised, sounding like he actually meant it, which Harry hadn't been expecting. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"

Harry nodded, glad that Griphook told him all about his parents and brother.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter-"

"Like me?" Harry told him sarcastically with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh," the boy looked like he didn't know what to say, "So, you're a muggleborn?"

Harry shook his head, "My father was a pureblood, I think. And my mother was a muggleborn, but I'm not. They're dead, like I said, so I grew up with muggles." The boy nodded thoughtfully, but Harry kept on talking, "You're doing it again. You're judging muggleborns and thinking that they're inferior, but have you ever met one?"

"Merlin, no," the boy quickly responded, and Harry nodded triumphantly at the answer, making the blond roll his eyes. "What's your surname anyway?"

Before he could answer, though, Madam Malkin told him, "That's you done, my dear." Harry nodded, and hopped off of the stool.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, then? You look very small for an eleven-year-old," the boy asked him.

"Yeah," Harry faked a laugh, which the other boy caught up on, but didn't mention it, which Harry was thankful for. Harry was about to walk away, but decided to wait for the other boy outside of the store. As much as he liked to do things himself, he wanted a friend, and he didn't have Ethelinda around to comfort him. He saw Ethelinda and quickly let her around his waist without anyone else noticing such a thing, and he waited for the blond boy.

Once Madam Malkin was finished with the other boy, he elegantly stepped off of the stool, unlike Harry who just leapt off. When the blond saw Harry waiting for him once he walked outside, he raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything other than, "You never did mention your surname."

"It's Potter," Harry mumbled, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, but the other boy stopped walking in the middle of the street. They were heading towards the wand shops, to where the boy said his mother was.

"Potter? But Charlus Potter has red hair, and practically a Weasley," the blond drawled, obviously disgusted at the thought of the said family.

"Yeah, well, he's my brother, who I've never met, and you're judging people again," Harry told him, making the boy's eyebrow's raise very high, but he still huffed playfully at the last comment.

"So, you're Harry Potter? I thought he was dead?" the blond asked curiously.

"Yeah, apparently that's all Dumbledork's fault, and yes, I'm Harry, pleasure to meet you," he told the blond, and he stuck out his hand.

"Well, I'm Draco Malfoy. Normally, I'd be spouting nonsense about how I'm rich and superior, but I doubt that'll make you want to be my friend," the boy shook his hand, and Harry laughed and nodded at the last part. "And you don't like Dumbledore? Everyone loves him except for some families, like mine."

Harry nodded, "I didn't even know magic existed until yesterday, and when I went to Gringotts, the goblins told me everything the professor who came in didn't. It's his fault I live in an orphanage with all of those abusive jer-"

His eyes widened and he quickly shut his mouth, while the blond – Draco, he told himself – looked slightly worried, but didn't say anything other than, "I won't ask about it if you don't want me too."

"Thank you. Maybe later," he mumbled as Draco stopped him from walking when they got to one of the shops.

"Mother's in here. Have you gotten your wand yet?" At Harry's shake of the head, the blond dragged the ebony-haired boy into the wand shop. "Mother?"

A beautiful woman with long blond hair the same platinum shade as Draco's hair stood before them, as well as an old man who was standing behind the counter. Around them were piles and piles of boxes which Harry assumed had wands inside of them. "Dragon, dear. Have you had your robes fitted?"

Draco nodded, "Yes, Mother."

"And who may this be? I know I've seen that unruly hair before, and those eyes," the beautiful woman, probably Draco's mother, pondered out loud.

"This is Harry Potter, Mother," the woman's eyes widened, but she made no other inclination that she was surprised, but Harry could tell that she didn't believe her eyes.

"Well, you _do_ look like James Potter very much so, and your mother had the same eyes as yours, though your eyes are a lot brighter," the woman complimented, and Harry flushed at the praise, still unsure as to how to react towards such an otherworldly thing.

"Thank you, ma'am," he thanked her and she nodded, before the two boys got wands. It only took Draco two tries to find the wand best suited for him, which was given to him by the old man, Ollivander, apparently. It was ten inches long, the wood type was hawthorn, and the core was a unicorn hair. Harry, however, wasn't so lucky. He only found a suitable wand on the seventh try. It was eleven inches long, the wood was holly, and the core was a phoenix tail feather.

"Interesting," the man mumbled, one eyebrow raised in a thoughtful manner, "I certainly wasn't expecting that."

"Expecting what, sir?" Harry politely asked with thinly veiled curiosity.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when it's brother – why, it's brother gave you that scar."

He paid seven Galleons for his wand before the other wizard could continue and thanked him for the wand.

He and the two other Malfoys left the wand store, and Harry could tell that Draco was just bursting to ask him something, "Yes, Draco?"

The blond quickly calmed down and pretended he didn't even care about the question, but asked it anyway, "I'm just curious as to why you have that wand and not your brother."

"Well, me too," Harry mumbled to himself, though the other two clearly heard him. Maybe Griphook was right when he said that Harry was the real Boy-Who-Lived. There's a possibility.

Draco didn't really seem all that satisfied, so Harry told him to just spit it out. Politely, of course. "Sorry, it's just, well… can I see your scar?"

Harry's eyebrow raised, but nodded and pulled back his unruly hair, as Draco's mother said, and showed Draco and Mrs. Malfoy his lightning-bolt shaped scar. "Does my brother have a scar too?"

Mrs. Malfoy raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you new to the magical world, Mr. Potter?"

Nodding, Harry asked the question again. "Your brother has a little mark on his right hand that looks like a V. I personally think yours is much more interesting."

Harry nodded his thanks, and told the two Malfoys, "I should probably go and buy everything else I need. I guess I'll see you on the train, Draco?"

"Of course," he responded with a small smile, and Harry decided he liked having a friend. Sure, he had Ethelinda, but it wasn't the same as having friends that were like you, kind of. They had rather different personalities, but they were both wizards, and it was really new and daunting to try and make a friend.

"Thank you for letting me buy a wand with you, Mrs. Malfoy," Harry thanked the beautiful woman, and bowed slightly.

"You can call me Narcissa, Harry. Come along, Draco. Your father will be waiting for us," Draco's mother replied to the ebony-haired wizard. Harry nodded in thanks and he walked to the other stores while the two Malfoys went to where Draco's father probably is. He bought everything else he could possibly need, as well as some extra books that aren't on the curriculum. Animagi seemed very interesting, and Harry had always wondered what it would be like to be an animal.

Harry bought a four-compartment trunk which needed a password to open, and be chose _'Ethelinda'_ as his password, though only if it was spoken in Parseltongue, which he learned was the language of snakes, which Ethelinda was very happy about. It had charms to make it weightless, and if he tapped it with his wand, he could make it bigger or smaller. He had already learned the spells to do so, anyways.

Now he only needed to wait an entire month to be able to go to Hogwarts, and he couldn't wait to leave the dreadful orphanage.

He spent the rest of the day just raving about magic to his first friend, but she wasn't his only friend now. He couldn't stop smiling, if that's any clue as to how happy he was about that.

 **A/N: So, Harry and Draco are friends now! The beginning of their conversation is directly from the book, which I don't own at all, and I don't make any money from this anyway, so this is my disclaimer. Also, what Ollivander says is from the book, but other than that, Harry wanting to be a Slytherin changed the conversation, in a way.**

 **I'm actually really enjoying writing this story, and I hope you are all enjoying reading it too.**

 **Enjoy!**


	6. Pre-Hogwarts Part 5

_**Chapter 6:**_ _ **(1031 words)**_

Harry spent the following month learning as much as he could. He had opened the little box that Aquila, the elderly matron, had given him the previous day. Inside, there were two earrings, but when he looked closer, he saw that they were two little swords that were made into earrings. He made them larger, since he read somewhere in the many books he bought that the trace that tells the Ministry of Magic when someone underage preforms magic only begins once they're on the train to Hogwarts for the first time.

Making them their actual size, he realised that they were two katanas. The handle where the hand holds onto it was pitch black, with silver highlights on both of them. Harry had also bought a book on old pureblood families, since he wanted to find out which family Aquila was related to, and Harry thought that it was safe to say that Aquila was a Black. Since she was very elderly, her hair was old and grey, so he couldn't use that to confirm it, but since the handle was pure black, and the Black family was sometimes known to have weapons hidden in jewellery, Harry thought she was a Black.

Wanting to confirm it, Harry finished up weeding the garden and raced inside, where he found Aquila sitting by herself at the table in the kitchen. The other two matrons, Bridgette and Margaret were nowhere to be found, probably with the other kids. "Aquila, are you a Black?"

The elderly woman smiled cheerfully at him, and nodded, affirming the question. "How did you find out, Harry, dear?"

"I opened the box you gave me, which was black, and inside, there was a pair of earrings which was actually a pair of katanas. The handle was black too, and I noticed from a book about pureblood families that Blacks named their children after constellations," Harry told her all of his evidence and she laughed at the length the boy had went to find out about her heritage. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Did you know that Charlus Potter was my brother?"

She nodded, "I was the older squib sister of a man named Orion Black. I was disowned, of course, and he became heir." She then paused for a moment, before placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, "I'm sorry I never told you about magic and your family, dear, but I wasn't sure if you were a wizard or not. When I saw you spending slightly longer than normal getting the mail a week ago, I realised that you probably got your letters, and you were being very secretive about the whole thing. The other two matrons don't care all that much, but I was waiting for this moment."

Harry grinned at her, pleased that he got her family right, and glad that she didn't tell him because she wasn't sure, instead of just being cruel.

The ebony-haired boy spent the rest of the time at the orphanage reading every book he bought, and when he ran out of books to read, he went back to Diagon Alley to buy more. He read up on Animagi, and Dementors and the Patronus charm, and about werewolves and vampires too. He was very interested in the other magical creatures, and was appalled at all of the laws against them.

He had begun the process of becoming an Animagus by holding a mandrake leaf in his mouth for a month, repeating an incantation daily. He didn't really have anything else to do other than read and get beaten up, so he never forgot to do it. He stayed quiet during that month, and he was left alone since he was leaving and people were afraid of his freakishness, so he was never distracted. People couldn't reach him when he was in his cupboard under the stairs, and for once, he was grateful for it. He knew the consequences if he messed it up, and he didn't really want that to happen, so he tried his best to make sure it wouldn't happen.

He was making the potion needed for becoming an Animagus, and he was lucky that on the night before he would board the train and go to Hogwarts, there was a lightning storm, meaning that he could become an Animagus straight away. Quickly doing so, he transformed for the first time.

It was a horrid feeling, though he was sure he would get used to it eventually in the future. It felt like he was being squashed to death, to the point where he could feel his bones reshaping themselves, snapping many times until they were the correct length and shape. He felt long feathers sprouting from his skin, and he felt a beak push out of his face, where his mouth should be, the beak long and black. Afraid to check what he was, he waited for the pain to subside. Harry could hear Ethelinda exclaiming that she couldn't believe it, and Harry, always having such a curious personality, opened his eyes.

Harry looked into the mirror he had smuggled into his cupboard when he was eight and saw that he was a… a phoenix!

Is… is that… normal? He wasn't aware that people could have an Animagus form that was a magical creature, but it seems that he was proven wrong by himself.

" **Harry, you're a phoenix! That'sss incredible, but it'sss againssst the law to be an unregissstered animagusss, you know that!"** Ethelinda, ever the overprotective one, rambled to him, proving that she was worried that he was going to be caught.

" **I know, Lind, but I don't want anyone elssse to know, and thisss isss my chance to be free,"** Harry countered, still able to speak Parseltongue whilst being a phoenix.

" **Fine, Harry. I'll trussst you, but transssform back ssso you can ssssleep a bit before going to Hogwartsss,"** his familiar mothered him, even though she was much younger than he was. Harry complied by changing back to scrawny little human him, and laying down next to his trunk, which was filled with books, which he had read about six times over very thoroughly. Each.

 **A/N: Well… that's that!**

 **I love the fanfictions where Harry's a phoenix Animagus. It's just so interesting and beautiful too! Also, I'm sorry that this chapter is so tiny, it's really more of a filler chapter, where nothing interesting happens, just explaining what happens during Harry's Summer. Next chapter will be the train ride, so I'm looking forward to that.**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! See you next chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**


	7. The Train

_**Chapter 7:**_ _ **(2493 words)**_

" **Harry! Get up! The train to Hogwartsss leavesss in four hoursss,"** exclaimed a little snake in the ear of an exhausted-looking human.

He had been trying to go back to sleep, but once he heard his snake's words, he shot up like a bullet, **"C'mon, Lind! We've got to get ready! I don't want to missssss the train, that would be a disssassster!"**

His snake merely hiss-laughed at his recently gained enthusiasm, and helped him put away all of his books which were strewn about in the little cupboard in piles since there wasn't much room. He had put away the cauldron which he had used to brew the potion required to transform into an Animagus form the previous day already, since his cupboard was rather small and he wanted room to arrange his books.

On the subject of Animagus forms, though he had been very surprised and curious, he was very happy with his Animagus form. He knew that it was impossible to apparate in and out on Hogwarts grounds, but maybe, as a phoenix, he would be able to do it.

In the month that he had learnt of the world of magic, Ethelinda had grown about twice her size again, so she was pretty much as long as Harry was tall, which was pretty long for a snake her age. Her scales shone beautifully in the light shining through a very tiny window which was had little metal bars in it instead of glass, as if he was a criminal.

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes as Ethelinda winded around his waist once more and he put on his school robes, too excited to wait. He ran over to where Aquila was and said goodbye, knowing that it was probably the last time he would ever see her. She looked very sickly, and had been to the doctors a lot recently.

Running back into his little cupboard when no one was looking, he grabbed his trunk and secured Ethelinda once more, before flashing to the muggle train station.

He had been practicing the phoenix version of apparating as much as he could that morning after packing his things, which didn't take very long. It wasn't that hard, but he didn't know how difficult apparating was. He didn't want to try it though; flashing was good enough for him. He had figured out that he could flash as a human, too, which was useful. Whenever he flashed he kind of goes up in flames and teleports to wherever he was thinking of. It's rather handy, and it's faster than spells so if he's ever in a life or death situation, he could reveal his Animagus form and get away.

Also, if he was ever in danger, he had his earrings. His unruly hair hid them pretty well, but if he was ever in a situation without a wand, and his wandless magic, which he had been practicing, isn't enough, he had his katanas.

Harry ran inside, thankful that his trunk was weightless, and searched for Platform 9 ¾. When all he found was a Platform 9 and a Platform 10, he was rather confused. He hid behind a bench so that the muggles wouldn't comment on his wizarding robes. Thinking that he would miss the train, and therefore miss his one chance at freedom, he saw a family of red-heads approach the wall in between the two platforms. They were dressed in an extremely unusual way, and most held trunks. With this in mind, Harry remembered the reaction Narcissa Malfoy had of his appearance back in Diagon Alley. Thinking that these were wizards, and that they would recognise him since he apparently looked like his father, he remained hidden behind one of the benches to see what they would do.

There was a woman, most likely a mother, and next to her was five children of varying age. There was an older boy, mischievous-looking twins, a boy seemingly his age, and a girl. He gasped in silence as he saw the eldest boy run through the wall with his trunk. He was followed by the youngest boy and the girl. The mother and twins remained, and as the middle-aged witch went through the barrier, Harry raced towards the twins, since they looked kind enough. They wore Gryffindor colours, though Harry was never one for discrimination. "Excuse me?" he pleaded, trying to look innocent.

The twins looked towards him, and grinned simultaneously, like Cheshire Cats. One of them began, "So what do-"

"-we have here?" finished the other one.

Harry raised an amused eyebrow and answered, "I'm a First-Year, and I don't know how to get on the platform."

They nodded, simultaneously again. "Of course," one began, "I'm Fred Weasley-"

"-and I'm George Weasley!" Harry noticed how George had an incredibly small mole on his nose, almost invisible, but Harry checked the other twin and realised that there was no such thing on his nose, and he knew that it was his secret weapon against the 'twin' thing they had going on.

The first one (Harry checked and he had no mole, so Fred) then asked, "So, what's your name, kiddo?"

"Well, uh," Harry stumbled over his words, afraid to say his name in front of, most likely, a Light family. They'll rave and treat him like a king, but Harry had a feeling that these two wouldn't, and Ethelinda squeezed him tighter than normal, and he took that to mean that she agreed with him, so he summoned up a Gryffindor-like courage that he didn't know he had, and replied, "I'm Harry Potter."

The reaction was rather hilarious, but after realising that they had their jaws dropped open, they quickly snapped them shut and George replied, "Apologies for the surprise, but-"

"-are you related to Charlus Potter?"

Harry rolled his eyes, quickly getting annoyed that everyone was asking him that, but he knew that it wasn't their faults, and anyways, it _was_ a big surprise when one encounters someone who doesn't exist, or was seemingly dead, so instead of lashing out, he nodded, "Yup."

The twins nodded, and proceeded to show Harry how to get through the barrier and on Platform 9 ¾. It was rather simple, one just had to run into the wall, and they would end up on the intended Platform. Once they were on the other side, the red-head mother quickly began telling off the twins for taking so long, she hardly even noticed Harry's presence in between the two, so she received quite a shock when Harry spoke up when she was catching her breath, "Excuse me, Mrs Weasley?"

She, along with the youngest boy and the girl, jumped in surprise at the new unknown voice, the eldest boy had seemingly already boarded the train. The mother, Mrs. Weasley, looked at where he was, and apologised profusely, claiming to have not had seen him. He nodded along at the right parts, but chose to ignore the apologies and looking out for new information on the magical world. The twins seemed to have caught up on this, as they grinned at Harry, and then each other, before nodding and interrupting their mother with the words, "Well, that's it, we're, adopting you, Harry!"

Mrs. Weasley pause and looked at them in surprise, and the youngest boy and the girl looked at their brothers in shock. They had never done anything like this before. Their mother raised an eyebrow and questioned, out of breath, "What do you mean?"

Fred _'aww'_ d at the woman, and shook his head as if she was just a little child who was too young to understand something, "What we mean, is that we'll look out for you at school," he was speaking to Harry now, "and we'll ask for your help with our famous pranks, Harry!"

Their mother suddenly paused, and Harry, sensing that it would be about his identity, silently walked away without any of the red-heads realising, even the twins. Once they did though, Fred and George were laughing and claiming that they had made the right choice while their mother took a deep breath and questioned the twins on if he was a Potter, since he looked _so much_ like his _dear old dad_.

He rolled his eyes and climbed onto the train. While walking down the corridor, he saw timid looking boy who seemed to be looking for something. Often the victim of thieves back at the orphanage, Harry decided to help, "Excuse me? Are you looking for something?"

The boy quickly spun around, and with wide eyes, he stuttered, "I-I, uh, yeah. My toad, Trevor, I, uh, lost him."

Harry nodded and told him, "I can help, if you'd like."

His eyes widening, the boy nodded and thanked him for his help. Harry nodded and continued to walk down the corridor before finding a scared little green blob on the floor. The ebony-haired boy rolled his eyes and reached out his hands, slowly as to not scare the poor thing. "Here, Trevor," he whispered, and the toad looked at him, and seemed to calm down a little, happy that _this_ human wasn't stomping around him like monsters, "I can take you to that boy, he's your owner. I don't know his name, I'll have to ask," Harry rambled, just wanting the toad to trust him and learn that he wasn't going to hurt him or make loud, painful sounds. After a couple seconds of wait, the little toad hopped onto his hand, and Harry grinned in victory.

Strolling down the corridor while Ethelinda tried to catch a glimpse of Trevor without escaping his robes and revealing herself, Harry caught sight of Neville speaking to a bushy-haired witch. "Hi, I never got your name earlier," Harry told the boy while holding out the hand which currently had Trevor on it.

"Trevor!" he cried and picked up his toad while thanking Harry immensely. He then turned to the ebony-haired boy and nodded, "You're right, I'm Neville Longbottom, and this is Hermione Granger," he introduced and gestured to the witch he was previously talking with.

The three went into a compartment and sat down, as Harry nodded and stuck out his hand at the witch, "Hello, I'm Harry Potter."

What happened after was pretty similar to how the Weasleys reacted to his famous relations. He quickly interrupted their unintelligible babbling and explained, "Yes, yes, I'm the long-lost brother of Charlus Potter. No, I don't live with him. Hell, I've never even seen him, never mind meet him!"

The two nodded, and Harry smiled. "What house do you think you'll be in?" asked Hermione after a few minutes of awkward, uncomfortable silence.

"Well, my gran wants me to be a Gryffindor," Neville mumbled to the two others, and Harry frowned in thoughtful silence as Hermione rambled on about how she hoped she would get into Ravenclaw but was too worried that she wasn't smart enough, so she hoped for Gryffindor as well.

Harry waited until she stopped blabbering on about it, and when she eventually did, Neville and Hermione looked at him expectantly. He sighed and began talking, "Okay, first of all, go into the house that you think would suit you best, not the one that you want. It'll create all sorts of problems, and you could realise that you ended up in the wrong house because of it. Understood?" he received two nods, which was good enough for him, so he continued, "Um… I was hoping to get into Slytherin…?"

Neville and Hermione gasped, and the bushy-haired witch quickly began filling the tense silence, "What? Harry, that house is filled with all sorts of Dark Wizards-"

She was quickly interrupted as the door opened to reveal Draco Malfoy in all his glory, as well as some others behind him. Neville and Hermione seemed perfectly ready to send them away, but Harry simply rolled his eyes and gestured for them to enter.

"Hello, Draco," he greeted.

And all of the others, including Draco's friends, were astonished when the usually moody blond replied with a cheerful, "Good morning, Harry."

The two proceeded to introduce Harry to all of Draco's friends, and then they all talked about what houses they would like to be in, where Hermione chose Ravenclaw and Neville, in a rare spurt of Gryffindor-like bravery, chose Hufflepuff, and then he went on to explain that he loved Herbology and that he wanted to pursue a career with it, and he felt that being in the house he was truly meant to be in without his grandmother's pressuring would be helpful. All of Draco's friends chose Slytherin, along with the blond himself and Harry too. He didn't give them the speech he gave Hermione and Neville, though, since he understood that they really didn't want to be disowned anytime soon.

He couldn't say anything else, other than how ineffably proud he was when he saw Pansy Parkinson painting Hermione's nails as they chatted about magical wards, or when he saw the flirtatious Blaise Zabini sit slightly too close next to Neville as the timid boy spoke about his favourite plants, which only Harry himself noticed, the others too busy with something else or another.

It was an understatement when he'd say that he was disappointed when the train finally rolled in the station, though that soon disappeared when he remembered where they were… Hogwarts! Harry and the others left the train and walked towards the black carriages slightly further from the small train station.

Harry gaped when he saw these mysterious reptilian dragon-horses pulling the carriages, and asked to Pansy, "Uhhh, what are those?"

"What's what?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. The ebony-haired boy gestured towards the reptilian horses, but the others, having heard the conversation, seemed equally confused. Everyone except for Blaise and Neville, that was.

"Um, I can see them too," Neville began, Blaise nodding along to show that he did too (he couldn't talk then, though. He was too busy with leaning in just too close to Neville to make it seem totally coincidental). "I don't know what they are, though, or why only we can see them," the timid boy responded confusedly.

"Let's just forget them for now, I'm sure we'll find out what they are later on," Theo told the group, and they split in two to be able to fit into the carriages. Harry looked towards the looming castle, and thought about how much better his life was now that he had left the orphanage. Though it wasn't what he expected, he was in no way disappointed, and he looked forward to the challenges the following year would bring. And he knew that no matter what, he had met brilliant people, and was certain that he had the best possible friends that he was certain to cherish as they walked towards a tall half-giant with the name of Rubeus Hagrid (though they didn't know that).

 **A/N: So, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while but it's explained in two other stories, that are new. Word stopped worked a bit before the Holidays so I couldn't really do much, so here you go. :)**

 **Onto another note, I hope you liked that silly, if not sappy ending to the chapter, but I'm absolutely horrible at ending chapters.**

 **Anyways, I don't know why I needed an entire chapter about the train. You know, a 'quick' summary, but alas, I write too much. I'm rather horrible at summaries, if you couldn't tell yet, but there's no doing anything about it.**

 **Also, don't complain about Harry being able to see the Thestrals, since I believe that he remembers his mother dying, and while he didn't understand it then, when he looked back at the death in his memories, he still understood, and he did witness death, so I think that it counts. And hey, if you think that's not enough, let's just say that one of the kids in the orphanage died of some disease and Harry saw it, I don't know.**

 **Enjoy!**


	8. First Year Part 1

_**Chapter 8:**_ _ **(4907 words)**_

Harry, Draco, Pansy, Theo, Blaise, Hermione, Neville, and Draco's two dunderheads walked towards where a _really_ large man stood calling out for the First Years to follow him. Draco next to him pointed out that it was the same man that they had spotted during their time in Diagon Alley, where they first met. "C'mon, let's follow him," Harry told the others while pointing towards the giant man.

Pansy gasped, however, "Harry, I'm beginning to think you're more of a Gryffindor than a Slytherin."

Harry simply rolled his eyes and smirked, before responded, "Don't you think that I'm purely Slytherin just by pretending to be a Gryffindor? After all, who'd expect a sneaky snake hiding amongst the brave lions?" He smirked as all of their eyes widened.

"Wow, Harry!" Hermione gaped, "I've never thought of it that way before!"

Smirking, Harry nodded and placed his finger to his lips, "Now, don't go around spouting how I'm a snake, the Gryffindors will have a field day if they found out that Charlus Potter's long-lost twin is a Slytherin!"

The seven giggled at the thought (Crabbe and Goyle didn't understand the hilarity of it), though Harry remained slightly nervous, as he knew that there was truth to his statement. He had no doubt that he would be sorted into the house of snakes, and he was worried about how his actual brother, as well as the Gryffindors, would react to him being a Slytherin. Would they bully him, exactly like the bullies that seemed so far away back in the orphanage? Would his family not want him to join them, if they knew how he was a snake? He had heard about the legendary rivalry between the Slytherins and Gryffindors, and how most were on the lion's side.

Suddenly stopping his thoughts, he laughed quietly to himself, though he was not heard by the others as they chatted about how they would be sorted as they made their way to the little boats by the lake. Returning to his previous thoughts, he rolled his eyes at the thought of the Dursleys welcoming him with open arms. Fat chance! If they didn't want him as a baby, they wouldn't want him now. Well, he assumed they didn't want him when he went missing, though he admitted that they could have just believed the headmaster about his death. After all, his parents were incredible at magic, according to the goblins at Gringotts, who told him a bit about his family. They had died, so it wouldn't be that hard to believe that he would too.

He swore, mentally of course, as miniscule bursts of hope pulsated through his body. He shouldn't be feeling this, he knew deep down that he wouldn't be welcomed into that household. They were probably too focused on their nephew to look after him, and he was pretty sure that Charlus Potter would not enjoy that the spotlight would be off himself at times.

He rolled his eyes, but he quickly grinned when he saw the red-headed twins slightly in front of them, "Fred! George!"

Running up to them, the twins turned around quickly to see the ebony-haired boy stop just in front of them. "Hello, Harry," they greeted simultaneously, grinning as they remembered the stunt the little firstie pulled off back at the train station. How _did_ he disappear like that? Anyways, the twins looked from the smiling boy to the group of First-Years behind him, following him after he ran off to see why.

The platinum-blond was the first to recover from Harry running off, "Harry! Why did you run all the way here? And just for a couple of Weasleys!"

"Well, first of all, they are my friends and who I choose to be friends with is my choice and my choice only," Harry responded in a calm voice, surprising his friends who, if they were in the little ebony-haired boy's position, would have shouted right back, "Second of all, why discriminate when you've most likely never even met them? You judge them on their family, and not on them themselves. Did you expect a Potter to act how I do?"

Draco and the others shook their heads in thought, and Draco shook his with guilt, "Sorry, Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes with amusement and pointed at the twins in an expecting manner.

Sighing, Draco looked at them, "I apologise for my behaviour. My name is Draco Malfoy, Heir to the Ancient and Most Noble house of Malfoy."

Fred grinned and replied, "It's forgiven, Malfoy. I admit that I was quite judgemental myself, so I apologise too. I'm Fred Weasley, and this here's my twin brother, George Weasley."

Draco gave the red-head a faint smile – barely even there, but Harry could tell that it was genuine – and nodded.

"Well, it's clear to see that little Harrykins here is the bringer of Inter-House Cooperation," the twins snickered. "See you all at Hogwarts, we'll be at the Gryffindor table!"

The group of nine – the twins having climbed onto one of the carriages being pulled by the weird dragon-horses – made their way to the boats, most of the First-Years already there. Harry could see a red-head the same shade as the twins, and Harry assumed that this was their brother, and next to him, he saw a darker shade of red, more of an auburn colour really, on a head who's face looked rather alike to his own, just slightly chubbier. Uncanny – that's what he thought.

Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Neville got onto one of the boats, the rest splitting off themselves to fit onto the boats. Harry didn't really pay attention to who was sitting with who though, he was much too excited. He was sitting next to Draco, who was to his left. Hermione was in front of him on the boat, with Neville next to her. He heard the students chattering around him, but his own boat stayed silent. The others quietened in lightning speed as the gorgeous castle came into view ahead.

He wasn't prepared for the beautiful castle that slowly made itself known as the mist from the lake settled down, making the school easily visible in the distance. Suddenly, there was a splash next to him in the water, and he leaned towards it, though making sure he wouldn't fall out. The noisy splash startled most students, who were getting used to the quiet, yet peaceful lapping of the boats against the waves.

Harry peered into the water, though there was no need since there was a long tentacle popping out from the water, slowly rising, as if not wanting to scare anyone.

The self-preservation that many Slytherins treasured decided to make an appearance at that very moment in everyone, no matter the future house, meaning that all of the students leaned way from the tentacle, looking as if they were about to die, other than Harry, of course. The ebony-haired boy rolled his eyes; sure, self-preservation was very useful at times, but it was just the school squid, and animals should not be ignored. While the books proclaimed that the squid was very anti-social, Harry grinned as he tickled the tentacle and some more rose out of the water. They were all approaching, and Harry thought he saw the young Weasley whispering into the other Potter's ear, something about, _'He looks just like you, Charlus! It's freaky, an impostor!'_

Harry ignored them though, too focused on stroking the tentacles gently stroking his own skin, the suckers making it rather relaxing and smooth. Draco, next to him, was pleading for him to stop, and Hermione and Neville's eyes were wide in fear for their newfound friend.

Hagrid approached them, and the squid, sensing the scary giant nearing their peaceful atmosphere, departed back into the water, though not without Harry stroking it one last time **(A/N: Hamilton puns! Totally unintended, but appreciated all the same!)** as a farewell. Until next time, at least. The half-giant looked disapprovingly at Harry, who was covering his hair and face with his arm, not wanting the man to recognise him from his parents.

Luckily, after a few moments, the half-giant returned to the front of the herd of boats, and Harry lowered his arm with a deep sigh of relief. Draco looked at him with a raised eyebrow and asked, "Why did you hide yourself from that giant?"

Harry returned, "I apparently look just like my… my dad. So, if they see me, they'll know I'm… well, _me_!"

Draco, Hermione, and Neville nodded understandingly, having learned by now that Harry wanted nothing to do with his eventual fame. Hermione, being the smart little thing she is, reminded him, "Everyone will find out who you are at the sorting anyway, so there's no point in hiding." Harry slowly nodded, admitting that she had a good point, but he would like that others would make they're first impression of him while they don't know who he's related to, or which house he's in.

Eventually, the boats reached the castle and they met a stern looking witch who introduced herself as the Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall. Harry remembered that she was the sender of his Hogwarts letters, and he wondered if she did it for everyone, or if it was just him. _'Of course it's for everyone, I don't deserve anything like that,'_ he told himself, truly believing his words, _'The matrons_ were _always right, anyway. I bet I'll make a fool of myself the second I get there. My… friends (?) will realise that I'm weak, and they'll leave, just like everyone else, and I'll be treated just like I am back at the orphanage.'_ Stuck in his gloomy thoughts, he didn't realise the astonished yet loving look he was receiving from the Deputy Headmistress, who obviously recognised him, and who probably didn't believe he was alive until now.

"Listen, Harry. Pay attention," Neville whispered, and Harry snapped out of his daze, though the negative thoughts never left him. He nodded gratefully to his friend and focused on their teacher. Professor McGonagall gave them a tiny speech about how she would return in a moment, and that it was best if they tidied themselves up.

As all of the responsible staff members were now nowhere to be found, Weasley and Harry's brother strolled towards them, sending 'hero smiles' at everyone in the crowd (the majority smiled lovingly back, though a few others who had met them before rolled their eyes and ignored them) other than him and Draco, Hermione, Neville, Pansy, Blaise, Theo, and Malfoy's two bodyguards. "Well, well, well. Look, Charlus! It's snooty Malfoy, in his posh robes," bullied the youngest Weasley male, "I bet you'll go to Slytherin, you evil snake!"

Draco, though his cheeks reddened in embarrassment, merely snorted (elegantly: if anyone can do it elegantly, it's a Malfoy) and responded, "You foolish Weasley, are you too poor to afford a brain? Anyone would clearly know that I would take that as a compliment."

"Y-you! You!" spluttered the red-head, who's face now matched his hair in colour. Finding himself unable to come up with a good enough responce, the 'Boy-Who-Lived' stood next to his best friend.

"Well, at least I don't have Death Eater parents who suck up to Voldemort!" he insulted the blond, who was now furious. The rest of the hall (other than Harry) shivered at the name of the Dark Lord.

Before he could respond to the boy, Harry stood in front of his friend and told his brother, rather confidently, "Potter, I understand that you're defending your friend but I'd prefer if we didn't have a fight before school even began. You understand, yes?" Hermione nodded with approval behind him.

Charlus flushed and scowled at the ebony-haired boy, "Shut it you! Who are you anyway?!" He was glaring threateningly at the familiar looking boy with the lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Harry, luckily, heard Professor McGonagall's footsteps approaching the door, so the smirking boy merely stated, "You'll see," and turned around to face their teacher respectively along with his friends, while Charlus and Ron stood there with shocked expressions and flushed, infuriated faces. They weren't the only ones though, almost everyone looked astonished, as if a miracle had just taken place. It kind of had, really; no one talks to the Boy-Who-Lived like that without punishment. The young red-head was quite famous for arguing with others and playing pranks on people. Professor McGonagall took one look at the scene, and her eyes landed once more on Harry, and she gave him a smile. He saw the expression this time, and raised an eyebrow in confusion at the action, but he didn't have the time to ask as the First-Years were lead to the Great Hall.

It was massive!

Still, Harry was shaking quite badly with nerves. He was looking at all of the professors, and when his eyes came across a familiar purple turban, his scar tingled with pleasure. He didn't understand it yet, not really. What he did know, however, was that it felt really nice and comforting, like a warm hug (not that he'd know how one felt like).

Professor McGonagall explained how everything worked, and Harry heard Hermione comment on the ceiling. Harry had already read Hogwarts: A History a few times, so how knew about how it was charmed, but there was something about seeing the clear night sky that was so beautiful.

The Sorting hat sang a song about the houses, but Harry was so nervous and excited all rolled into one that he wasn't focusing on the words. Eventually, the Deputy Headmistress held out a sheet of parchment with a list of names on it.

"Abbot, Hannah!" called the Deputy Headmistress, and the applause after she was sorted was deafening; even Ethelinda squeezed just a bit too tight at the sound. Oh, he had forgotten that his snake friend was wrapped around him, it was very comfortable, and he was so skinny that having a rather long snake wrapped around him made him the expected weight someone would be at his age. Harry waited for a while, lost in thought about how much his life had changed, and how much it _will_ change. Somewhere In the back of his mind, he noted that Crabbe and Goyle were sorted into Slytherin. He quickly snapped out of it when the professor called for, "Granger, Hermione!"

The bushy-haired witch walked shakily up to the stool and sat down, making sure not to fall over and embarrass herself. The Deputy Headmistress placed the hat on her head, and it stayed silent for a good few minutes, until it eventually cried out, "RAVENCLAW!"

Hermione took off the hat and gave it back to Professor McGonagall, both of them smiling happily; Hermione because she was just sorted into her favourite house, and McGonagall because she was happy that she would be able to teach what seemed to be a very intelligent witch (she had heard the comment on the ceiling. Not everyone reads the books before arriving). Along with the rest of the hall, Harry clapped delightedly that she ended up in the house she wished for. Professor McGonagall continued with the names, and soon called out, "Longbottom, Neville!"

Harry saw his friend sit on the stool and wait for a few seconds, perhaps half a minute, before the hat cried, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Many laughed, as he was from a long line of Gryffindors, but Neville seemed to have expected that this would happen, and he was smiled happily. McGonagall smiled as well, happy to see the boy so happy when others were making fun of his house. She quickly shut them up, rather glad to do so, and continued with the sorting.

While Harry was waiting for the professor to say 'Malfoy', who was the next in line, the ebony-haired boy looked around the Great Hall. He spotted the twins sitting at the Gryffindor table, grinning at him, obviously excited to see which house he was in. He saw Hermione at the Ravenclaw table and Neville at the Hufflepuff table, both smiling at him, Draco, Blaise, Pansy, and Theo. Eventually, he was pulled out of his thoughts by McGonagall calling out, "Malfoy, Draco!"

The majority of the Slytherin table perked up and paid attention now, needing to make connections with the Malfoy Heir. Draco obviously knew this, and consequently, the blond smirked and strolled pridefully, though not arrogantly, to the stool, and he politely sat down as gracefully as possible. Harry thought he heard Weasley mutter, _'Show-off, the pompous git,_ ' and Charlus mutter back, _'I know, but try not to get into a fight. That kid who looks like me had a point, we shouldn't get into fights so early in the year.'_ Harry personally thought that you shouldn't get into fights at all, but he had to admit that he _was_ a little glad that his brother listened to him slightly at the very least.

Before the Sorting hat even reached Draco's head, it cried, "SLYTHERIN!" and the Slytherin table cheered slightly louder than normal as the blond strolled to join his house mates. McGonagall secretly rolled her eyes fondly at the pure-blood, having seen many like him. Everyone seemed to miss it except for Harry, and he smiled at the witch, who smiled mischievously back.

"Nott, Theodore!" Professor McGonagall called. She had realised that she was rather fond already for those students who were coincidentally friends with little Harry already. They had so much potential, and Harry was friends with all of them. Well… all of them but his own brother, the Boy-Who-Lived. She had visited Charlus Potter several times in the past, and she had never caught a glimpse of Harry before, everyone believing him dead. She had decided to send him a letter anyway, though, just in case. And it turns out that he's alive. She only hoped that he had decent living arrangements. It would be horrible if he was abused just because everyone believed him to be dead.

Theo looked to him, Pansy, and Blaise, and the three nodded _'Good luck'_ to the nervous boy. Harry took a deep breath and focused on his heartbeat, trying to calm down and stop shaking. He let out the breath and stood tall and proud, not revealing any emotions.

Theo sat down and the hat was placed on his head. As the Sorting hat was silent, Professor McGonagall looked at Harry and saw that he was devoid of any emotions. Perhaps he was abused, or else why would he have learned to portray to emotions… Nah! Dumbledore wouldn't lie, he was too good for that. Hesitantly certain in her decision, McGonagall waited patiently for the hat to cry… "RAVENCLAW!" Harry certainly wasn't expecting it, but he clapped extra supportively anyways.

During the same time, a certain Tom Marvolo Riddle, hiding in the body of Professor Quirrell, did notice the slight signs (similar to those he noticed back at the orphanage. He had already decided that the boy was being abused, but it still reminded him dreadfully of himself) of abuse like McGonagall did, but unlike the bright witch, he didn't trust Dumbledore and he saw that Harry was showing an emotionless expression, and he was so much like him – the Tom him, not stupid Quirrell, he was just a body.

Soon after Theo had been sorted, Pansy was called up, "Parkinson, Pansy!"

The pure-blood practically floated over to the stool, and the hat quickly cried, "SLYTHERIN!" and Harry sighed and shook his head fondly. He wasn't even surprised at that. Theo loved reading and knowledge, but Harry expected him to be too afraid of his father to be in any house other than Slytherin, apparently not though. And Pansy actually wished to go into Slytherin because it suited her, not because her family wished for her to do so, although they did as well. The pure-blood floated over to the table and sat across from Draco. The two were looking at Charlus Potter expectantly, though with bored expressions gracing their features.

Professor McGonagall called for, "Potter, Charlus!" and the Great Hall went from mindless chatter to hushed whispers. It wasn't pure silence, as those few people who didn't really like the Boy-Who-Lived didn't feel like he deserved the silence. The majority only quietened down in respect and also, they wanted to see if the boy went to Gryffindor, which he obviously did as he swaggered happily – though not quite as arrogantly as Harry was expecting him to – to the stool and sat down, and the hat was barely touching his head when it called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table cheered as it was mostly filled with those who supported the Boy-Who-Lived and the Light side of the war. Harry noticed that Fred and George weren't clapping, or cheering at all, which seemingly surprised the teachers as some of the more expressive ones gaped at the two while the more put-together professors merely raised an eyebrow and smirked, as most of the teachers had met Charlus before and were curious as to why the Weasley twins weren't gracing them with a round of applause. Snape, specifically, was rather delighted that the son of James Potter wasn't in his house, though he hid it very well, but Harry had a lot of practice at reading emotions. Dumbledore, in particular, seemed confused as to why the twins weren't clapping for the Boy-Who-Lived. Perhaps they disliked how the boy enjoyed pranking as much as they do? That didn't make any sense though…

It was Harry's turn to smirk (in his head, as he still wore an emotionless expression) when Professor McGonagall and Professor Quirrell – Tom, he told himself as he smiled a little at the man who wore bright red eyes for a millisecond before quickly changing back to dull black – smirked at him, and the Deputy Headmistress called out, "Potter, Harry!"

Aaaaaaaaaaaaand… that won him absolute silence. If a pin were dropped, it would clang as loudly as if someone dropped a metal biscuit tin against some other metal surface. In other words, it was _really_ quiet. Harry gave everyone a soft smile, painting him as a picture of innocence. Everyone probably thought that he was going to Gryffindor like his brother, as the Slytherins were rolling their eyes at him, and the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws kept glancing at the Gryffindor table. The lions looked smugly towards him, obviously pleased at having _two_ Potters. Harry chuckled in his head at how they would react at the house he would be in. He didn't know which house he would join, but he would try not to get into Gryffindor, only for the reason of not rooming with the Weasley; he shuddered at the thought.

He sat on the stool, and just before Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting hat on his head, she whispered, "Good luck, Harry."

The hat covered his eyes, so everything was pitch black. He read about how the Sorting would work, and he hoped that he wouldn't take forever, or he could be kicked out. _'You're quite the little Ravenclaw, aren't you?"_

Ah, there it was, the hat was speaking to him through his mind, and Harry thought back, _'Yes, though I wouldn't really mind what house I would go in.'_

' _Even Gryffindor?'_

The Sorting Hat sounded amused at the question, but Harry rolled his eyes (no one will see anyway) and answered anyway.

' _Though I would despise it with all my heart, I won't interfere with your choice,'_ Harry politely told the hat, who sounded surprised. Harry wondered if there was no house for him now, as not much was happening to do with that.

' _Don't worry, Heir, it is taking so long because you suit every house very well,'_ the Sorting Hat explained, and Harry innocently responded with:

' _Even Gryffindor?'_

The hat chuckled at the repetition of his previous comment and it began brainstorming, _'That was very good, little Heir.'_

' _Do you call me that because of being the Heir to Gryffindor and Slytherin? Would that technically make me the half-owner of Hogwarts?'_

' _Indeed, that is all true, but you have to learn about how to control the castle first. After centuries of magic being used in these halls, Hogwarts has become a sentient being, with thoughts and goals of her own. You must help her, as she is yours as you are hers. Most believe that all lines of the Founders are perished, but they all still survive. You are the Heir of Gryffindor and Slytherin, and Voldemort is the Lord of Slytherin. The Heirs of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff must show themselves, as I don't know of their identities.'_

' _That's interesting, I'll have to research that.'_

The hat rolled its eyes mentally, _'Of course. Now, onto the Sorting: you have an incredible thirst to prove yourself, and your love of books is mainly about the quest for knowledge and using it to your advantage, a rather Slytherin mindset indeed. And I know you have an extremely venomous snake underneath your robes.'_

Harry chuckled mentally and curiously questioned the hat, _'So how am I a Gryffindor?'_

' _Well, you want to protect the ones you care about, and you would sacrifice yourself for them. You are incredibly brave and noble to go through the things you have been through and still go through every day with a smile on our face, and though you are brilliant at hiding your emotions, if you didn't you would wear your heart on your sleeve more often than not, a Gryffindor trait,'_ the hat explained, and Harry grudgingly admitted that the Sorting Hat had a point. However, it then continued, _'Then again, you are a Parseltongue, a strictly Slytherin characteristic. So, what'll it be, Mr Potter, the true Boy-Who-Lived?'_

Harry's eyes widened at the claim, but he couldn't deny that he had been thinking a lot about that lately, and he agreed, though he wasn't about to tell anyone, they wouldn't believe him. He then answered the hat, _'Slytherin, please. I only have the Weasley twins in Gryffindor and very slightly perhaps my brother, and my parents are dead, so it doesn't matter that they were in Gryffindor.'_

The hat seemingly agreed is he heard it respond with, _'Then it better be-,' "_ SLYTHERIN!"

Professor McGonagall took of the hat, and Harry caught a glimpse of her dropped jaw. It seemed that over half of the Hogwarts students were wearing the same expression, and some of the teachers too.

Dumbledore was thoroughly surprised when Minerva called Harry's name. He thought that he told everyone puny little Harry was dead. So how was he at Hogwarts? And, more importantly, in _Slytherin_?! He'd have to act loving and grandfatherly to the boy, and perhaps he could convince the hat to resort him into Gryffindor.Although he had left Harry behind all those years ago to focus on Charlus, the Boy-Who-Lived, perhaps Harry could be of some use. He saw Quirrell smirking at the boy, and he knew that he was most likely to be one of Lord Voldemort's followers. He would be good bait, if Voldemort's servant seemed interested. Yes, a perfectly good way to put him to use while getting rid of him at the same time. Now all he needed to do is to get the boy to trust everything he says, like his naïve father and brother. The headmaster nodded at his plan, not realising that it was too late for Harry to trust the old coot.

Though Harry's friends hadn't believed it at first, they knew what to expect, and the twins were grinning radically. Harry saw Tom's face – Tom, not Quirrell – and he was smirking with great amusement at the reactions of everyone. Smiling back at the man, Harry quickly thanked the Deputy Headmistress and walked to the Slytherin table with the rest of the hall in total silence, and he sat down next to Draco.

The Weasley twins began clapping first, and they were soon joined by Harry's friends, and then the Slytherin table (they were all delighted at the Gryffindors' miserable and surprised faces, and since no one knew that Harry was alive, they assumed that he wasn't raised in such a Gryffindor environment), then the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, and then, finally, Gryffindor clapped very disappointingly. Professor Quirrell and Professor McGonagall had begun clapping when Harry's friends did.

The other students after Harry were sorted, with Ronald Weasley being sorted into Gryffindor, obviously. Harry knew that there was going to be trouble with him, but he honestly didn't care at that point.

He was finally at Hogwarts, at a place where some people at least slightly cared for him, unlike his horrible orphanage, where the only people who cared were Aquila and now Ethelinda. Thinking of his noble little snake (well, she isn't so little anymore), he patted his stomach, when in reality, he was stroking his first ever friend. Blaise was also sorted into Slytherin, and he sat down next to Pansy so that the little ebony-haired boy was sitting next to Draco and across from Blaise.

He looked across all five of the tables in the Great Hall, the House tables and the table where the professors sat at, and he looked at all of his friends across them all. He wondered how people would react to his group of friends. Oh, he couldn't wait!

 **A/N: Here's an extra-long chapter to signify the beginning of Harry's First Year at Hogwarts. I can't wait for the rest of the year, and then the rest of the other years, I'm so excited! I thought I did pretty good with this chapter, and if you have any ideas about how Snape will react to having a long-lost Potter in his house, then please be sure to leave a review. I mean, Harry has Lily's eyes, but at least he isn't much like his father was at his age.**

 **Enjoy (the extra-long chapter)!**


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